Earth's Eden
by KungThomasDenTrettonde
Summary: In the City of Animi, Two families battle for dominance of the streets. Malik Al Sayf is just a normal guy, working at a call centre trying to find the one, either, his friend - Ezio Auditore, or newcomer - Altair La'Ahad, and his choice will affect not just Animi, but the World's future. Altair/Malik Ezio/Malik and more - Rated M for later chapters - Set in a Modern day AU


**Earth's Eden - Chapter One**

It was New Year's Eve, December 31st 2012, and Ezio Auditore was throwing a party.

The thing was, while Malik Al Sayf liked parties as much as any other 25 year old guy, he didn't like the fireworks that had been ordered, more than enough to mirror the Aurora Borealis in light and definatly mirror a bombing raid on London in sound. It was all he could do to cover his ears when he saw any being lit and make excuses if people looked at him funny. Most understood however, for the reason was the same as his missing left arm. The war.

But tonight was not a night to reflect. People were dancing, music was playing and everyone was very much drunk. Ezio was holding the party in one of the gardens of the Auditore Manor, and everyone was clearly having a great time. The older Auditores had left for the night, and others were strewn around the place. Many Malik knew, from the four months he had lived in Animi City. Petruccio Auditore was sitting by a fire, one hand holding a bear, the other a girls breast. Darin La'Ahad sat broodingly with his brother Sef, looking very much bored and Edward Kenway, Malik's flatmate was talking with Ezio, swaying as he spoke.

Malik sighed. Alcohol was not really his thing, he liked to be in control. The party would no doubt be the party of the year, of two years in fact. Midnight was fast approaching and he suspected many wouldn't be able to leave until midday tomorrow, due to extreme inebriation.

Midnight was approaching, a mere six minutes away. Ezio approached him, along with Edward and a few others who were simply there to be seen with an Auditore.

"Malik, _mio amico_." He paused to hiccup before continuing, "you enjoying my little _festino_?"  
"Cut the fireworks and you'll see me having fun"  
"Sorry _mio amico_. It was Federico's idea. Here, have a beer, loosen yourself up a little"  
With that Ezio passed Malik a beer, which he dropped, when a cheer rose as over the fence of the garden, the Animi Tower in the distance flashing signalling the 60 second countdown. Malik sighed and picked up the beer, cracking it open and taking a deep swig.

The whole gardens-worth of people began the countdown when the tower displayed 30.

"29, 28, 27, 26 25,"  
Out of the corner of his eye, Malik saw a man sitting on the wall to one side of the garden.  
"24, 23, 22, 21, 20"  
Malik felt like he knew him, from somewhere.  
"19, 18, 17, 16, 15"  
The light from the tower illuminated his face, and Malik could see that he was clearly staring not at the tower, but at the stars.  
"14, 13, 12, 11, 10"  
A sketch pad in his hands, his pencil dancing across the paper sheet of the pad. His eyes unmoving.  
"9, 8, 7, 6, 5"  
The man turned, his eyes surveying the crowd, seemingly focusing upon Ezio, then Malik.  
"4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

With that the man on the ledge rolled off, landing expertly on the ground and striding towards the group. Kadar, Malik's younger brother had joined them during the countdown, and was now cheering along with Edward. Ezio was babbling on about plans for the new year, the new group of female students who had been sighted around town and ho this was the best party ever. He didn't notice the approaching figure until he was amidst them.

"Ezio. Fun Party." the man said, his amber eyes flashing as a few other fireworks were lit in town.  
"Altair... good of you to show up... This is Malik. Malik, this is my cousin, Altair La'Ahad."  
"Nice to meet you Altair" Malik said, extending his hand, which Altair did not take.  
"You the only La'Ahad to show up?" Ezio asked, in the weakest attempt to keep conversation going.  
"No, Father told myself, Darim and Sef to go. Allah knows why he'd want us near this _johanam_"  
The Arabic surprised Malik, who spoke some himself, enough to confirm that the La'Ahads, while relatives, clearly did not want to be there.  
"I wonder" he mused to himself under his breath, before making his excuses to leave. Before he could go, Ezio stopped him,  
"_Mio Amico_, there's a game on this Sunday. Want to come over and watch, first game of 2013 and all!"  
"Yeah, I'll see if I can find time. Text me details." and with that Malik, grabbed Kadar by the ear and lead him out of the garden where the party was still in full swing.

"Do we have to go? Everything just got fun!" Kadar whined  
"Kadar, firstly, you have university tomorrow as does Connor, and plus Federico smoking whatever he has is not good for you. Dad left you in my care and one of us has to end up in a good paying job, and a call centre sure as hell isn't making me millions."

Malik didn't earn millions, only enough to pay his half of the rent for the townhouse he shared with Edward, which Connor and Kadar both lived in also, and for the occasional luxury or art supply for Kadar at university. The job wasn't all that bad.

Malik and Kadar left Edward at the party, chatting with some girls, and began the walk to the bus stop which would drop them back at the townhouse. A few other parties could be heard from the houses, none as extravagant as the party of the manor Auditore. You could still here the cheers from a street away, distinctly the sound of some girl's very load moans -obviously getting freaky with someone- and Petruccio's drunken singing of 'Call Me Maybe'.

The sounds died out as they reached Farm Street, where their townhouse was located, and soon all was quiet except for the sounds of fireworks from Animi City Centre, where a party as large as the one at the Auditore's was likely going on.

Almost immediately after getting in to the house, Malik went to his bedroom and flung himself on the bed, trying to block out the sound of exploding fireworks. Kadar knocked hesitantly on the door.  
"Hey, I've brought you some food. _Sahlab_ like mum used to make."  
"Thanks..."  
"Everything's fine you know. It's just fireworks, not bombs or gunfire or anything."  
"I know..."  
"Just try and get some sleep. You've got work tomorrow."  
"Yeah..."

Kadar left the _Sahlab_ on the table by Malik's bed and left, shutting the door after him. Malik drank it, then collapsed onto the sheets again, falling into near dreamless sleep, with only one image on his mind. A pair of Amber Eyes.

The alarm clock which normally went off at 6:30 wasn't what woke up Malik. It was Edward, stumbling in, looking exhausted. He had loudly clambered up stairs, tripping a couple of times. Then he fell against Malik's door, before proceeding down the hall, banging into many things. Malik, lying now awake in bed, looked at the clock. 5:48 am. Late enough that he may as well get up, and prepare for work. Once out of his door, he turned to Edward.  
"Who brought you back. Don't tell me you drove here when you're clearly that pissed."  
What came out of Edward's words were barely legible, except for a few. La'Ahad, kid and amber.

The Amber Eyes. Malik ran forward, pausing only to open Edwards's door for him, as he was having trouble finding the handle, before running down the stairs and opening the front door.

There he stood. He hadn't even stepped away from the door yet. He just stood there, amber eyes glowing with life, no tiredness showing on his face despite the time. Malik just stood there, thinking what to say.  
"Hey man, thanks for taking Edward back."  
"It's rather early for you to be up. I remember you leaving, saying you had work. You can't have stayed up."  
_('Well he's talking back to me, for once. Still he doesn't seem as shady as he seemed them')_  
"Well Altair, I have to start early. Edward woke me up with his bumbling drunkness."  
"I see... Did you enjoy my cousin's party?"  
"Parties were never really my scene. I'm more of a stay at home, read a book kind of guy. I didn't realise the Auditores and the La'Ahads were that closely related."  
"We're not. It's just a term, for the distance between us is rather great. The only real link was back during the crusades, when one son of the first Altair went to Europe. We just call each other cousins, as if we were to use the correct term, we would be there for a very long time."  
He paused for a moment.  
"Do you like my cousin?"  
It's Malik's turn to pause.  
"We've been friends for a long time. I mean I hadn't seen him for near 7 years before I came here, but yeah, I like him. He's a nice guy."  
Altair pauses again, before muttering "_Each to their own I guess_." Looking up he continued. "Bit of an ass in my opinion. Anyway, what are you doing after work?"

The question took Malik by surprise.  
_('Doesn't this guy hate me?')_ he thought. "Uhm, I have no plans."  
"So" Altair hesitated a moment, "Want to hang out. I mean I only just got to this place. You could show me some of the sights."  
"Alright. Why me though... I didn't think you liked me."  
Altair laughs, a somewhat strange laugh for one so serious, but the kind that is contagious.  
"I was only like that because of where I was and who I was with, the Auditore. You are one of the only other people I know, and you seemed alright."  
_('Decent enough reason I guess. It was defiantly kind of awkward')_  
"Okay then, sure. I'll meet you here at let's say quarter to six?"  
"Sounds great. I'll let you get ready for work. See you later."  
With that he turned and walked off, hands in his pockets. Malik stood in the doorway and watched him, before turning and going back into the house.

Just over an hour later Malik left the house, after a struggle to wake Kadar so he could get ready for his lectures that day. He walked to work each day, a distance which took 30 minutes to walk, but kept him fit and was nothing compared to the asshole callers he would most probably face later.

Before he got to work however, he stopped off at a local coffee shop. Pretty much every day he went to work, he met his friend Lucy here. They both got in early so would meet here, get coffee and walk to work together. This morning was no different.

"Did you go to the Auditore's party last night Lucy?" asked Malik. They had ordered and were just waiting for the coffee to be made.  
"I couldn't. I mean Giovanni invited me, most probably out of courtesy after I fixed the internet in the Manor, but I couldn't go. My sister had her own soiree, and I went to that over the party. Did you go? You don't look like a zombie so I'd guess not..."  
"Nah, I went. Left pretty much just after midnight. I had to bring Kadar back, he had Uni today. Plus, you know parties aren't my scene."  
They paid for their coffee then began the last 10 minute walk to work. Lucy told Malik about her sisters gathering last night.  
"You should come to the next one. You can bring Edward you know."  
Lucy had been interested in Edward since the day she met him. Maybe she just had a thing for ponytails on guys. Each to their own.

They met Shaun, Rebecca and Clay outside, part of the friend group Malik had been accepted into when he arrived, which Malik was very happy about. The only other workers in their room in the call centre are a group of assholes like Warren, who everyone called Vidic, Will Miles and Dan Cross.

They all had to wait outside in the cold of January until their boss, Rikkin arrived. Even though he was late he chastised them for taking a break on work time. Complete Bollocks.

The work day was surprisingly good. Everyone must have been in good spirits after New Year's Eve. There was not one irate customer on the line for Malik. Midday approached rapidly, which carried their lunch break. The clock chimed twelve, and they all began to gather their coats.  
"Lunch Lucy?"  
"Yeah sure Malik. Can we go to the Spanish place which does good Sangria?"  
"Bad customers?" Shaun asked as he waited outside their cubicle with Rebecca and Clay.  
"Assholes" Lucy replied, and was about to go on but was interrupted by Vidic who poked his head round the door.  
"That's why you're the one to talk to them Stillman, you speak their language."  
"No Vidic, that's why I forwarded them to you. Now kindly screw off! Anyway, yeah there was this women, and you'd think she was from the 18th century. She didn't even know how to turn on her router."  
"Did you actually forward the bad ones to Vidic?" Clay asked.  
"Perhaps." Lucy replied, smiling."Anyway let's go, before Rikkin thinks we want to work an extra lunch shift."

The rest of the day went by relatively fast, seeing as they all came back a teensy bit tipsy. Soon enough Malik found himself and Lucy walking back to the bus station. Lucy was one of the few who knew Malik well enough to be able to ask interesting questions.  
"So, the party. I'm guessing Ezio was there..."  
"Yeah he was"  
"And... Nothing from him."  
"Lucy he doesn't notice me sober, why would he when his senses are dampened by alcohol?"  
"I don't know, straight guys can do many things with a pint or seven in them."  
"Firstly, he was way too focused on Jess Addin's ass to notice anyone else, secondly I'm pretty sure if your drunk it can be considered non-consensual."  
"Still, he must be into guys as well. Have you seen how vain he is. Plus have you seen him around spiders, he screams like a ten year old schoolgirl."  
"Ezio screaming, that's something I'd pay to see"  
"As would many."  
"Anyway, I'm meeting up with another guy later today. Not a date, but I don't know, he seemed interested, even if just a little."  
"What!? Who?"  
"Altair La'Ahad, I met him last night. At first he seemed shady, he was quiet and kinda ignored me. But I saw him this morning and we seemed to get on fairly well."  
"You have to text me and tell me how this goes. A date, finally!"  
"It's not a date"  
"You make it sound like one."  
"I'm not that lucky"  
"Well then, I must leave you. You need to do your hair, makeup and nails. Call Ezio, he can help you, I swear I've seen him wearing eye-liner."  
Malik chuckled, "By Luce,"

He waved her off began walking towards his house as she got on the bus. It was just past 5pm. 30 minutes later, he had showered, gelled his hair and dressed appropriately. It was now he realised that he didn't even know what they were doing. But before he knew it there was a knocking at the door. He woke Edward, telling him that he was leaving, and waved goodbye to Kadar, who had just got back from lectures.

Malik took a deep breath and opened the door. Altair stood there, looking handsome. He beckoned to Malik.  
"Let's go"

And Malik just smiled and closed the door behind him.

* * *

_(Authors Note)  
_  
_Okay so I never appreciated how hard it is to write a modern-day AU, and it is pretty difficult. To those who do it well, I praise you so much. This has been one of the hardest writes ever. It's taken a week since planning and conception and the writer's block has been ridonkulous. _

_Still I hope you enjoy. I am getting in to the swing myself, and doing research on Hebrew, Arabic, Italian, Syria (post crazy dictatorship), Israel and Italy. Still I'm only just starting, expect this to go worldwide towards the end (oh it will, I swear)_

_And Sorry that this went on for nearly 2,750 words of story. I got carried away, the next chapters will be shorter, and maybe the final chapter will be this length. Reviews, or even favs and follows (if it is actually good and I'm not deluding myself) would be appreciated._

Kung Thomas Den Trettonde

* * *

**GLOSSARY**

-_Mio Amico =__**My friend (Italian)**__  
- Festino =__**Party (Italian)**__  
- Johanam = __**Hell (Arabic)**__  
- Sahlab = __**A Beverage, also known as Salep (Widely drunk in many places, such as Israel)**__  
_


End file.
